After much controversy and a heated debate, India’s parliament on Tuesday amended the juvenile justice law to allow 16-year-olds to be tried as adults for serious crimes such as rape and murder.
Under the new law the teenage accused will be tried by specially constituted juvenile courts and cannot be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.
The new law comes after public outrage following the gang-rape and murder of a physiotherapy student on a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012.
While four of the perpetrators were sentenced to death and the ringleader, the bus driver, allegedly hanged himself in jail, a 17-year-old teenager who also participated in the crime was recently released from a correctional home. Under the existing law, as a juvenile he could only remain in detention for a maximum of three years.
The parents of the physiotherapy student led a campaign demanding that the law be changed.
“But for the parents, the amended juvenile justice bill would never have been passed in parliament,” said Kiran Bedi, a celebrated police officer.
During the discussion in parliament several members warned against changing the law in an “emotionally surcharged atmosphere”, with noted legal experts advising caution.
“It is very unfortunate that we seem to be playing women against children,” Faizan Mustafa, head of the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, told the Indian Express.
“We are opposed to the law since vengeance seems to have become the focal point of our view of justice. It is regressive because studies show a high rate of recidivism if you treat juveniles as adults.”
Legal experts also warned that the new juvenile law could be misused, suggesting parents or police could criminalise teenagers who had sex before turning 18 – the age of consent in India – by accusing them of rape.
